Edclicking Keyword Cloud
By Dr. Harry Tennant
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 Pass It On Education Content: Web 2.0 Linking People In Ways That Are Profoundly Changing The Human Experience This is an interesting four minute video regarding the evolution of Web 2.0, produced by Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Kansas State University. There are other great ones out there on the topic, some I'll include in future posts. So many things us adults must "rethink" in order to "think 21st Century..." Check It Out! Pass it On! Posted at 2:46 PM Keywords: Web 2.0 , Social Media , Linking People , Technology , Internet , Pass It On 8 Comments |
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Rob J said... Can you say how humans are being profoundly changed? I am not seeing much profound on Facebook. Thursday, December 2, 2010 10:45 AM |
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Dan S. Martin said... Rob, First thanks for the comment! The profound implications of the decentralization of information production and distribution is but a single example. Now, when you have a need or desire to project a message to others, pedigree and resources matter much less than initiative and substance. The internet, and Web 2.0 tools in particular, democratize our discourse and allow for a much greater diversity of thought to be proposed and considered by a potentially much greater, better targeted audience. The profound changes I am referring to are less about the content of the discourse you alluded to on Facebook and more about the paradigm shift of, for instance, being better able to "live" local while "participating" global. In a sense, the growth of our world through technology may eventually allow us to be better rooted locally, yet more in tune globally. This is one example of the power of the tool to fundamentally change human behavior, not so much the quality of what the tool has produced to date. Are information technologies of the past three decades facilitating human changes as profound as the automobile facilitated through much of the 20th century? I believe so. Certainly, though, the value and impact of technology tools is not synonymous with examples of what the tools have allowed to exist to this point. Thursday, December 2, 2010 12:10 PM |
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Rob J said... The Web makes it much easier to access (some) information which is a major improvement, but the improvement is in efficiency, so I am not sure I would call it profound. Can you be more specific about what "Web 2.0" tools you are referring to? Web 1.0 seemed to provide greatly increased access to information, so I am interested in what you see as the improvement in 2.0. Democratization has some benefits, but it also has the downside that information can be incorrect or of very low quality. Students and citizens may have difficulty identifying valid information from the myriad of opinion (and falsehoods) found on the Web. Can you give an example of a tool that you see as a tool that is supporting living locally but participating globally? The automobile did indeed result in change, but it is unclear if that change was only positive (consider the suburban sprawl caused, or the massive number of auto caused deaths each year). This blog targets formal education benefits and perhaps learning benefits. Can you say how, in your view, the Web provides potential learning benefits or benefits for instruction beyond increased access to information? Data from NAEP (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/main2008/2009479.asp ) indicates basically no difference in math and reading scores since the early 1970s (prior to personal computers and the Internet). So, why isn't better access to information (via technology) improving test scores? Friday, December 3, 2010 9:59 AM |
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Dan Martin said... Rob, I'll address this with a couple of posts since I have a minute here and a minute there to do so today ...and your response is meaty. For a change to be profound does not indicate that it is positive. Some of the most profound things are profoundly terrible! The issue about student performance since the 70s seems, as I'm sure you realize, so much more simple than it actually is. For instance, just because students have access to information doesn't mean they know how to access it and use it for accountability measures. Given time they will become more adept at doing so, and we educators at facilitating this, such that you may see an increase not currently evident. Having said that, while reading and mathematics are important, are not the end all, be all measure they are often trumpeted as being. They are indeed foundational skills, but our standardized tests don't really measure the increased capacity student proficiency in those areas enables coupled with the incredibly significant access to variety of information and application they now have via the Web in whatever form. Maybe students in the 70s were able to perform on Math and Reading measures at the same level as today, but they certainly did not have the exposure to information, nor the ability to use those foundational skills to contribute to the global marketplace of ideas, in the way Web 2.0 offers. It is empowering. Granted, perhaps the reason Math and Reading scores are flat, as you've referenced, is due to the consequences (both positive and negative) of the increased breadth of the student experience today as opposed to the more confined educational experience of yesteryear! In fact, in my opinion, that can be said for childhood now versus then in general! I'll comment back on the first half of your post later. Thanks again for spending time on the blog! Friday, December 3, 2010 10:38 AM |
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Scholar said... "Can you give an example of a tool that you see as a tool that is supporting living locally but participating globally?" That's easy. This blog is an example. eBay is another example. The WikiLeaks guy is currently making news doing exactly that from Sweden and Australia. Online, distance doesn't mean much of anything so it makes little difference where one is located to participate elsewhere. Friday, December 3, 2010 10:46 AM |
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Dan Martin said... Rob, To followup a bit: Students having to critique and value sources of information is part of life in the 21st Century. It is better than spoon feeding and/or enlisting them to learn from "approved" (establishment) sources almost exclusively. The utilitarian value the web has beyond being a source of information has me itching, right now, to get back on the task of designing web solutions to school operation challenges that go way back in our history, but are today accentuated by the size of our schools and so many other things in life that have changed, while so much remains the same!!! Friday, December 3, 2010 8:20 PM |